In today's newspaper presentation, we discuss the sanctions announced by Britain, led by its Foreign Minister, Ed Miliband, against Israel and parties associated with settlements, and we examine the feasibility of these measures and their potential impact. In another article, we focus on the remarkable shift in British foreign policy towards Israel during the recent period. Finally, we conclude with a question about university study: Is it still worth it?
We start with what former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote in the Daily Mail under the headline: “Gaza’s Crazy Water Park story reveals why Miliband’s sanctions are a shameful waste of time.”
Boris Johnson believes that the sanctions announced by British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband against Israel will not bring the region closer to the two-state solution. Rather, in his opinion, they may lead to the opposite result, because they ignore one of the most prominent Israeli concerns: What will happen if Israel withdraws from other lands without reliable security guarantees?
Johnson bases his proposal on the experience of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, when Israel evacuated its settlements and expelled about 8,500 settlers, before the administration of the Strip was transferred to the Palestinians, and Hamas imposed control over it in 2007.
The writer points out that Gaza had promising economic potential, from a coastal location and potential gas resources to a young human force and a large influx of international aid, but he believes that this potential did not turn into a prosperous economy, and rather development declined in the face of the priorities of the armed conflict.
Johnson uses the story of the “Crazy Water” water park in Gaza as a symbolic example of this. The park was established in 2010 and provided job opportunities for more than a hundred people, but it was later closed after extremists objected to the nature of the place and the mixing of the sexes, before it was burned. For Johnson, this incident sums up, in his opinion, the conflict between economic development opportunities and religious and political extremism.
He adds that the attacks of October 7, 2023 strengthened Israeli fears of establishing an armed Palestinian state that would control its security independently, considering that this development made Israeli political support for the two-state solution more difficult. However, Johnson does not rule out the possibility that the Israeli position will change if Hamas abandons violence and weapons, considering that such a step may open the door to real peace negotiations.
The former Prime Minister criticizes the British government because, in his opinion, it focuses sanctions and pressure on Israel while not exerting similar pressure on Hamas. He concludes that the current British policy may strengthen, rather than weaken, the hard-line Israeli current, and increase the lack of trust between the two parties, without providing the Palestinians with tangible economic or political gains.
We now turn to The Guardian newspaper, where Steve Bloomfield wrote an article entitled: “The Miliband doctrine may restore the moral dimension to British foreign policy.”
At the beginning of his article, Bloomfield reviews the recent moves of British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, especially London's decision to impose economic sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which, according to him, may represent "the beginning of a new approach in British foreign policy based on placing values and human rights at the heart of diplomatic action."
Bloomfield says that this trend brings to mind the experience of former Labor Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who spoke in 1997 about the need for British foreign policy to include a moral dimension. He believes that Miliband may be the first British Foreign Minister in years to actually approach this approach.
The writer notes that Miliband used strong language regarding the situation in the West Bank, describing what is happening as “ethnic cleansing” committed by “terrorist settlers,” in addition to asserting that “the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is illegal.” He also points out that Britain did not act alone, but rather led a coalition of 12 countries, including France and Canada, to support the sanctions.
Bloomfield believes that the impact of the sanctions may be broad, especially if they extend to those that finance the settlements, which may put Israeli financial institutions before difficult choices regarding continuing their dealings with the settlements or maintaining their commercial relations with Britain.
According to the writer, this shift is not limited to the Israeli file, but also reflects a British attempt to adapt to the decline of the traditional American role, by building flexible diplomatic alliances that include middle powers. Bloomfield believes that the real test of this approach will be in other files, most notably the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Sudan, as he believes that Britain must take more firm stances towards external parties involved in the conflicts.
At the same time, the writer warns against repeating the “moral foreign policy” experience associated with Cook, which at the time collided with contradictions between British principles and interests. He concludes that the success of what he calls the “Miband Doctrine” will not be measured by the power of rhetoric, but rather by the British government’s ability to transform stated principles into consistent and effective policies.
We conclude our tour with an article published by The Independent entitled: “Is university still worth it? I teach at university, and here is the honest truth,” written by Sarfaraz Manzoor.
The writer wonders whether university study is still worth its high cost, especially in light of increasing student debt, rising costs of living, and declining job opportunities for graduates. Manzoor, who teaches writing at the university and holds an honorary position at another university and holds an honorary doctorate from a third, says that today's students are more concerned about their professional future. The tuition fees paid by local students in the program in which he teaches is close to 20 thousand pounds sterling annually, while it exceeds 35 thousand pounds for international students, without taking into account the costs of living.
Manzur recalls his personal experience at the University of Manchester, where he studied economics and politics between 1989 and 1992. Although he does not remember much of the academic knowledge he gained, he believes that the university gave him more than a degree: independence, making friends, self-discovery, and moving away from the family environment in which he grew up. He points out that his university experience was radically different from the experience of current students, as he studied in a period before university fees were imposed, and obtained a scholarship that helped him graduate without debt. However, the beginning of his career was not easy; He graduated in the midst of a severe economic recession in 1992, and was forced to work temporary, low-paying jobs.
